I would like to introduce a great new blog by Steve Clarke, a man who has a lot to say in this world that is worth listening to. Check steve’s blog to read more! I am loving his veggie box idea from Slipstream organics (George you’d like this!) and I too am challenged by this notion of living more ethically. I am trying to set up a web site on it called “think other” where people can post their ways (such as slipstream) of making a difference. I am just trying to find a good wiki to do it! …I did have a far more amusing photo of Steve in a pair of Andy Walsh’s shorts but thought that it might be a bit mean to post it

Now I am not quite sure how to construct this post without becoming guilty of the crime that I am accusing, so I may need a little help… I shouldn’t get too cross as I have a teeny Monty snuggling under my chin and purring!! Anyway, earlier I felt a little cross. I don’t know if I was caught in a bad moment or whether it is because I have been bed-bound for two days with some strange illness, as it is not often that I get cross.

The reason that I felt this way was because I picked up a well-meaning Christian publication for the 18-30′s type generation that I slot into and thought that it should make some wholesome reading that would be good for my spirit in my ‘unwell’ state of being. Imagine my surprise when I scanned the front cover to find the titles “is it because I have boobs?” and “I hate religion”. I’m sorry, is this ‘Hello’ magazine or a magazine to encourage a generation of Christians? I flicked open the cover and found some pretty good articles. Then I got to the two aforementioned articles… The ‘boobs’ lady was saying that she didn’t know any good female preachers and that female preachers should get good at preaching rather than preach because they fill a politically-correct gap.

Now I agree, you shouldn’t preach unless there is anointing and instruction from the Lord, but to say that you don’t like female preachers and don’t really know any good ones is just an ignorant huge generalisation, is it not? Where has she looked? I can name a good number.

I turned to Mr ‘I hate religion’ who said that he hates the way that the church kills people with religion. Well here is what I hate. I hate the way that Christians slag off the rest of the church forgetting that it is one unit and they themselves are responsible for what they are saying because they are in fact ‘the church’. I hate the way that there is this new-fangled pre-occupation with telling the secular world (who frankle don’t give a monkey’s) that we are Christians but we hate religion – what they need to know is the love, grace, forgiveness and salvation of Jesus, not sit there and what us get bitter about what we have done to the expression ‘religion’. MOVE ON!

I also hate the way that the 18-30′s generation is patronised by ‘trying to be cool and hip’ literature, where people assume that we all skateboard, live a grungy lifestyle and try to speak like a Jamaican. I have asked so many young people what frustrates them about church and almost all say ‘Christian trendies’ – i.e. people who stand up and try to speak what they think their language might be but actually don’t reach them at all. I also found a competition where the last question said: “How did you get your grubby hands on this publication?” My hands are not grubby, just because I am 21 years old.

Now, here’s a tip. If you are going to write Christian literature, spend some time with your target audience. Get to know how they tick. Look at secular examples of what people read! I am not saying pick up a porn magazine for cultural research, but there are many good pieces of secular literature that people actually read. What language do they speak? As to the boobs woman, what was the need to use that word? Was that being “pure in speech” or just again, trying to be trendy, making a generalisation that the Christian 18-30′s market would appreciate a nice bit of vulgar language? it had little to do with the article and whilst yes, the shock value made me read it, I didn’t think it was exactlhy honouring to the Lord.

Like I say, it wasn’t all bad. There were some good articles too and it was nicely presented, if a little trendy. My only regret was that there couldn’t have been more cheerful and less bitter articles advertised on the front – more focus on the gospel rather than the nitty gritty frustrations of the Christian life. I feel hypocritical as here I am moaning about it when you could turn round and say “what are you doing about it?” and I actually have no excuse to respond with. I just feel frustrated and I wondered what you thought?

This is the incredibly cute-a-licious Montague Aristotle Turner (JT’s choice of name this time!!), “Monty” for short. We got him today, a gorgeous 8 week old ginger boy kitten!! I am so excited!! It has been a horrid time since Sparkle died and Twinkle has been really lonely, so we thought we’d try her with a little friend. So far she keeps following him around and sniffing his bottom. He is so tiny that we keep losing him, particularly as he camouflages with the wood laminate floor!

We will keep you posted….

How exciting!! but whatever will we do about these…?!

How funny… Tim and I have written an almost identical Christmas article on our blogs!! He phoned me up in great distress saying that he had just written an article on Christmas then ventured to mine to find an identical one!! Heehee… PS pic is of Tim & Claire, his girlfriend.

Yesterday somebody stumbled upon my blog by Google searching for daughter “rubber gloves” toilet… I am not entirely sure what they were looking for!! What they found, was my article about cleaning the bathroom! Sorry whoever you were! Odd…

Christmas is creeping up on us fast this year… I noticed that Christmas had come to the Regent Arcade, as I wandered through town the other day and saw all the twinkly lights and heard all the tunes floating down from the ceiling. Now I know that most people hate Christmas by this time of year, but I can’t help feeling a huge childlike excitement about it all! I love the atmosphere and Christmassy vibe, the grumpy old man selling reindeer antlers in town from a triangular stand on wheels – they just make me laugh as they are the kind of people that you could extract from the Kemble Brewery (‘the locals’, not the Hitchman crew!!), plonk on the street in their navy blue BHS winter coat, stick some cheery antlers on their heads and watch them look like death on a plate with a ridiculous hairdo!

People seem to go a bit retail-mad around this time of year… I was in ‘pahynd-lan’ (poundland) the other day, innocently looking for a toy mobile phone for a uni project and I was shot by a small child with a ‘realistic noises’ machine gun!! Now I have never come face to face with a real machine gun, but from televised experience, I have never heard one make laser noises and especially not laser noises that sound like a pregnant cat (the batteries were going).

I was also met by the classic “McKenzie!!! You arrrrr NOT ‘avin’ that, put it DAYNNN!!!!” I smiled to myself and left the shop, unable to find what I was looking for.

Naturally I am disappointed, angry in fact, that Jesus is being pushed out of Christmas. I hate the fact that most advent calendars are now ‘countdown calendars’ for new year. I also get fed up with the number of snowmen, singing Santas and slightly unfortunate looking elves that cover the shops. I was in Wilkinson glancing through the Christmas array and could not find a single thing that related to Jesus, the true hero of Christmas. Now this is what I don’t understand… How can taking Jesus out of Christmas make it less offensive?!! I am incredibly offended on the Lord’s behalf about it, but noone seems to mind what Christians may think about this. I wonder what would happen if we took all Hindu elements out of diwali so that everyone could celebrate it?! How ridiculous would that be? It is a Hindu festival. So why can the Christmas commercialists get away with it?

I really want to be able to come up with something ‘cutting-edge’ that can give Christmas back its true meaning… Something far more attractive than singing santas that you just want to throw across the room by the third round of “here comes suzy snowflake”!! Any thoughts?

That said, I do have a place for all the pretty things at Christmas, but only as aids to celebrate its true meaning – they can make it feel very special. I think that when it gets to Christmas eve and you are STILL running around like a headless chicken buying last minute items, that you start to feel a little bit sick. There is just too much ‘stuff’.

I am just musing out loud really, I could say so much more but I am not really sure what purpose I am musing for! I hope that it is on the Lord’s behalf.

Here you go Tim, anyone ever wanted one of these devices? This is in response to a post on Tim’s blog about stupid drivers!! (Tim is my big bro for anyone who doesn’t know that!)

I have been able to find our honeymoon hotel on Flash Earth, which brought back loads of lovely memories We’d so love to go back to Florida, it was just AWESOME!! We spent far too much money, but neither of us had been on a proper holiday for years and it was my first time in N.America (in fact only my 2nd time out of Europe!) so it was really exciting, not to mention the fact that it was our honeymoon!! Enjoy… I have included the hotel at various angles of ‘zoomed in-ness’ (click to enlarge) and also a couple of photos of us actually there (you probably don’t want to enlarge the one of me if you still want an appetite for your tea!!) but if you enlarge JT, he is on the balcony that the arrow points at in the aerial view.